Mark 9:36 - Exposition

And he took a little child ( παιδίον ), and set him in the midst of them . St. Mark adds, what is not recorded by the other synoptists, that he took him in his arms. And taking him in his arms ( ἐναγκαλισάμενος ); literally, folding him in his arms ; embracing him . It is probable that the house where he was was the house of Simon Peter; and it is possible that this little child might have been Simon's. A tradition not earlier than the ninth century says that this child was Ignatius.